


Fated

by EzzyDean



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Splash Free, Gen, M/M, Reincarnation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-21
Updated: 2014-10-21
Packaged: 2018-02-22 02:52:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2491787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EzzyDean/pseuds/EzzyDean
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time and time again, lifetime after lifetime, Rin has always needed Seijuro by his side (even when he didn't know it) and Seijuro has always loved Rin.  This is something Seijuro knows, something he remembers, something he relives every night in his dreams, and something Rin doesn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Wish Through Time

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this [graphic](http://captiveprincesss.tumblr.com/post/68614179488/i-guess-ill-love-you-another-time).

Sometimes he would see a flash of red in the palace and his heart would skip a beat and part of him would wish that it would just stop altogether.  Let him drop dead right here in the desert heat.  The pain of seeing the one person he loved fade from this life right before his eyes had been gut-wrenching.  Knowing that they had never known he loved them was still heart-breaking.  It wasn’t that he was a cowardly man.  In fact all of the other guards respected him and obeyed him.  He wasn’t the captain for no reason, after all.  But how was he supposed to tell the prince that he was sworn to protect with his very life that he loved him?  

Somewhere deep in his soul he always felt that the words he had whispered while standing guard alone at his love’s deathbed rang true.

“I guess I'll love you another time."

He believed there would be another time.  Believed it to the very center of his soul.  That’s why no matter what he was still determined to live this life through to the very end.  There was no way his prince would accept anything less from him.

But it was hard.  Seeing the princess take her place as queen had nearly killed him.  A knife of pain ripped through his stomach and his fellow guards had questioned his health that day.  Beads of sweat gathered near his temple as he watched the princess walk towards the seat he was standing beside.  A priest placed the jewels of the kingdom on her slim throat and weaved them into her long red hair.

That seat.  Those jewels.  

They had been meant for his prince.  

Of course he was loyal to the queen until the day he died.  She was a wonderful leader and turned their lands towards the way of peace after many years of unrest.  But his heart would forever belong to the sharp mouthed prince.  Through this life and any others he had.  It belonged to the princeling who cheekily dunked the guard-in-training in the palace fountain when he refused to let him sneak off of the palace grounds.  The prince who habitually fell asleep - he was certain it was on purpose - under his watchful eye when he was supposed to be studying.  The prince who had confided in him that he didn’t feel worthy of his impending rule.

The prince who said he wanted nothing more than to be a carefree prince until the day he died.

“Looks like you got your wish.”  Seijuro muttered as he drew a shaky breath.  “Maybe now I can finally get mine.”  The priest and guard seated next to his bed shared a look, neither knowing what his final words had meant.  But they must have brought some moment of comfort to him: for the first time in many years Captain Mikoshiba had a smile on his face.


	2. Prince(ss)

Seeing him for the first time in a new life always hurt.  No matter what age it happened.  Whether he was eight years old and his new neighbors with a little redheaded boy and girl just moved in or he was thirty and just met his new commandant.  He was never as ready as he wished he could be; it was like a kick to the chest every single time.  There was no bracing, no preparation, nothing to clue him in.  Their names always changed and their features were a little different every time.  But the sudden lack of air and clench in his chest was always the same.  He would be in the middle of a tactical meeting in a commander’s tent one moment and the next he had to remember how to breathe because  he  just marched in.

This time was… different.  

It wasn’t so much a punch in the gut as a slap in the face.  Standing here, not more than a foot away, was none other than the  princess .  He had encountered her in different lives of course.  But never like this.  She was the exact same as the original princess.  From the top of her soft red hair, pulled back into a ponytail, to her sharp eyes and grace.  It all practically screamed to him that this was the princess in the flesh.  Images of desert jewels against pale skin danced behind his eyes.  Sweat beaded on his brow as he grinned down at her. He could feel his cheeks flushing in surprise and he breathed out a single word.

“Princess.”  It was as much a statement as a question and he saw one of the guys near him raise an eyebrow.  Luckily no one else seemed to have heard.  To save face and avoid explanations however, Seijuro found himself automatically spouting off compliments, even as his brain worked on overdrive. His team had said the girl was looking for her brother, was  he  here then?  Could he dare believe he was that close?

He remembered his prince’s fondness for water. Surely if he was here he’d have joined the team already.  Right?  As he racked his brain trying to figure out how he could have missed meeting his prince he found himself telling her that there was no Matsuoka on the team though a corner of his mind registered the name as familiar.

“Hmm.  That’s strange.  I thought for sure…” Her thought drifted off as she focused on the team stretching beside the pool for a moment.  “Oh well sorry for wasting your time.”  She spun on her heel and marched out of the room.  He hurried after her and accompanied her to the exit, as a proper captain should, a wave of deja vu sweeping over him.  That time she had been looking for her brother too.  Only he had been hiding somewhere, hellbent on refusing the ceremonial coming of age party his family had planned for him and had left explaining his absence to his trusted guard.

“It’s no waste at all.  Seeing such a cute girl never is.  I’m not sure I heard properly.  What was your name again?”  Flashing her his most winning smile he held the door open as she passed through.

“Gou.  Sorry again to bother you.”  He watched her leave with her head high and shoulders proud despite the disappointment of not finding her brother.  It shouldn’t have surprised him so much that she had the princess’s name in this life - he had been given his original name this time around as well - but it did.  It was the first time through all his lives that he could remember it happening.  

A light shone on his thoughts and he grinned.  Maybe that meant it was safe to assume the prince had the same name as before as well.

Matsuoka Rin.  Now he had a name.  That should make things much easier.

Heading back towards the pool he realized that this would be the first time he ever considered actively looked for his prince.  Every other life he had been content to let fate run it’s course.  It seemed that everything was turning out different this time around.

Early the next morning he rolled out of bed eager to start his search for his prince.  Should he start at the records office or maybe the dorm office?  If Rin was a student and in the academy as a swimmer like Gou thought then this would be the dorm he would have been put in.  So dorm office first.  

He pulled open his door and everything went white.  He caught only a glimpse of a short red ponytail before the door across the hall from his slammed shut and his heart started beating again.  But it was enough.  Had his prince seriously been living only a few feet away from him all this time?

“Sorry, Captain Mikoshiba.  He’s just had a really bad day.”  Blinking down at the first year in front of him it all fell into place.  Nitori had been mentioning at practice the other day that his roommate was a great swimmer but seemed uninterested in the team at the moment.  That would be why the name Matsuoka had felt familiar when the princess spoke it yesterday.  Nitori must have mentioned it when he started gushing about his roommate.

“No problem, Nitori.”  He said and the first year seemed to light up when he nodded down the hall towards the stairs.  “Wanna go grab some breakfast and you can tell your Captain all about it?”  If he was going to get into the prince’s good graces in this life he would need all the info, and help, he could get.

  
  


He scratched at his head and glared at his homework.  Once his glare had been enough to send criminals scattering.  Now he used it on a roomful of rowdy teens.  A groan slipped from him and he tipped his chair backwards.  It had only been a couple days since he had found out that his prince was literally sleeping only a few feet away and it was starting to drive him crazy.  He hadn’t even tried talking to him yet.  It wasn’t like him to be so indecisive about things.  But his talk with Nitori and his visit to the dorm office the other day had left him feeling unsettled.  

After charming his way past the front desk he had been allowed to know that Matsuoka Rin had transferred into Samaezuka from a fairly prestigous swimming school in Australia.  Also, even though he had been in Australia for swimming and had enrolled at Samezuka, known for being a swimming powerhouse, he had shown next to no interest in actually joining the swim team other than it being listed as his intended club on his application.  That was the part that confused Nitori the most as well.  He knew Rin to be a great swimmer but he had told Seijuro that morning at breakfast that Rin didn’t seem to be as enthusiastic as he remembered seeing him being when they were younger.  In fact he barely seemed to care about swimming at all.

Seijuro winced as the door across from his slammed shut and a muffled yell filtered through his door easily pulling him from his thoughts.  With a growl he tossed his pencil on his desk.  Not like he was going to get any homework done today anyway so he might as well see what the ruckus was.  He was the captain after all and this was the swim team’s dorm.  He grabbed his jacket and opened his door to find Nitori staring down the empty hallway.

“Ah, Captain Mikoshiba.  Sorry.  Sorry for disturbing you again.  You must have been busy.”

“What’s wrong now?”

“Well I tried talking to Matsuoka-senpai again about joining the swim team and he kind of told me to mind my own business.”  The concern on Nitori’s face was enough to spur him into action.  Even if Rin was being stubborn at the moment it was still his duty as the captain to maintain order in regards to the swim team.  So he gave the first year a smile and slipped on his jacket.

“Let me see what I can do.  Okay?  Leave it to the captain.”

He had sounded confident when he said that but now he was doubting himself again.  Just what was he supposed to tell Rin that Nitori hadn’t already tried?  Oh hey you’re my beloved prince from my past life and I think you should join the swim team so I can continue my duty of keeping an eye on you.  If he said that it was likely that not only would Rin never join the team but Seijuro would probably be spending some serious time in a quiet room with a nice psychiatrist real soon.

Pushing open the locker room doors he spotted Rin standing at the edge of the pool.  He seemed to be lost in thought and Seijuro wasn’t sure he wanted to disturb him just yet.  It felt like forever since he had last seen his prince so he took the opportunity to study the other teen.

The hair, the face, the lean body.  It was all the same as he remembered.  The same as he always saw in his dreams.  But still something was… off about Rin.  He didn’t have that spark he always had.  That confidence to focus the whole room on him with just a motion.  Rin glared down at the pool and let out a heavy sigh.  Seijuro opened his mouth to speak and then stopped again, unsure.

Had he ever had this much trouble figuring out how to approach Rin?  Shutting the locker room door silently he headed back to the dorms with one thought nagging at him.  Was this truly his prince?


	3. Welcome to the Team

Without a doubt it was his prince, he decided a couple days later as he apologized and bowed his way through getting Rin out of trouble with the staff.  He had been caught in the pool with students from another school well after hours.  Which would have been enough of a problem on it’s own but Rin wasn’t even a member of the swim team.  When Seijuro confronted him about it after sitting through three different lectures about the responsibilities he had as Samezuka’s swim team captain Rin’s response had been a nonchalant shrug and the statement that he had just wanted to race.

Morning sunlight filtered through his reddish hair and for a moment Seijuro was sure that he had seen a glint of gold jewelry lining the other teen’s ear.  That brief overlap of the past startled him into answering harsher than he intended, shoving a handful of papers against the other teen’s chest.

“Oh.  You wanna race?  Then fill out this form, give it back to me, and get your butt to practice tomorrow after classes.  Then you can race to your heart’s content, Matsuoka.  Otherwise stay out of my pool.”  Seijuro had managed to cross the hallway, leaving a slightly stunned Rin to deal with Nitori’s excited chatter about him finally joining the team, and shut the door to his room before letting out an unsteady breath and sinking to the floor.  

While he had always been in a high enough position in all his lives to help his prince along and give suggestions he had never been in a position to tell him what to do directly.  It was unnerving to take that tone with someone that most of his soul felt he should be bowing to in respect.

And that his entire soul knew he was completely in love with.

He had to brace himself with a deep breath when a knock sounded at his door that evening and Rin’s voice called out.

“Oi, Captain Mikoshiba?  You there?”  Forcing his fingers to unclench he opened the door as casually as he could.  This wouldn’t be so hard to deal with if this reincarnation of his prince hadn’t been dropped into a body that looked and sounded and - he realized as Rin leaned into his now open doorway fresh from a shower - even smelled like his original prince.  It was a scent that reminded him of sunshine and a dry heat that baked you even in the shade if you were outdoors.  “Still with us?”  He blinked as a piece of paper was shaken in front of his eyes.

“Ah, yeah.  Long day.  That your application?”

“Filled out, as requested.”

“Good.  Nitori should be able to fill you in on the basic schedules and routines and rules.”  He glanced over the sheet and placed it on his desk, turning back to Rin with a friendly smile.  “Anything else you can ask me tomorrow at practice.  Welcome to Samezuka’s swim team.”  Rin studied him for a moment before turning away with a huff.  “Oh, and Matsuoka.  Don’t make me regret this decision.”  Anymore than I already have, he thought as he shut the door to his room.  Once again he was grateful that as a third year, and the captain, he got the privilege of a room to himself.  

Because if he had needed to explain to a roommate why his face was suddenly the color of his hair or why he fell into his bed with Rin’s name sounding as a groan he would have just as soon drowned himself in the pool.

 

To say things were going smoothly would be a blatant lie.  Rin was being surly but that wasn’t anything Seijuro hadn’t seen before.  Everything was going well enough though until the day of the joint practice.  He had agreed to it partially as a favor to Gou seeing as how she was still the princess after all.  But it was largely as a show of good faith between the schools.  

He explained to Nitori as the first year filled out some paperwork before practice that day; Nitori had volunteered to help their coach and manager keep track of the first years’ times and records so he spent a lot of time with Seijuro lately.  The whole idea of the joint practice was to show that there were no hard feelings after the whole sneaking into the pool incident.

“That’s pretty cool of you, Captain Mikoshiba.”

“Well it’s not like what they did hurt anyone or anything.  Other than the fact I had to sit through a bunch of silly lectures it wasn’t even that big of a deal.”

“But you made Matsuoka-senpai pay you back for that already, right?”  Seijuro raised an eyebrow at Nitori’s statement as he held the door of the swim team’s office open for the first year.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh after the first couple practices I heard him muttering something about being punished with extra laps and stuff like that.”

“It wasn’t punishment.  I was just asking him to prove to me that he was serious about joining us.”  Nitori accepted this with a smile and continued chattering to him as they made their way to the pool.  The rest of the team was starting to filter in and the group from Iwatobi would be here soon.  But Seijuro was getting lost in his thoughts.  

A niggling feeling of guilt was starting to surface.  Was he pushing Rin too hard?  Was the other teen upset with him?  He was still trying to balance the whole being directly in charge of the man who was once, and still was in his mind, a prince he was sworn to protect with his life if necessary.  He was also finding it hard to concentrate on his current life when vivid memories of his past lives replayed through his mind every night as dreams.  They had even started to filter into small moments and details when he was awake.  A glimpse of Rin in desert jewels would appear when Seijuro blinked and then shimmer away when he blinked a second time.  Just yesterday he had went to hand Rin something and had sworn he saw black polish perfectly applied on his nails.

A delighted gasp caught his attention and he looked over to see the princess practically bouncing with delight as she eyed the two teams.  Good.  The group from Iwatobi was finally here so they could get practice underway.  While the rest of the team started their stretching he headed over to talk to their new friends.

And had to run a hand over his eyes to double check that he wasn’t daydreaming again.  Standing in the middle of the group of five was a tall brunette.  A tall green eyed brunette that if the pattern held true would have the same name as a certain merchant who also haunted his dreams of late.

“Glad you guys could make it.”  Gou spun around and gave him a polite smile before bowing slightly.  The rest followed suit after a moment.

“Thanks again for agreeing to this.”

“Not a problem.”  He opened his mouth to make a little small talk - it never hurt to be in the princess’s good graces after all - when her face suddenly lit up and she hurried past him.

“Onii-chan!”

“Gou.  What’re you doing here?”

“Didn’t you hear about the joint practice?”  Seijuro watched as Rin glanced to Nitori for a moment before looking back to his sister.

“Oh that was today?”  The blonde from Iwatobi ran up to them and grinned at Rin.

“Hey, Rin-chan!  I can’t wait to swim with you again!”  The redhead gave the shorter teen a bored look before turning away and heading towards the door.

“Forget this.  I’m not wasting my time swimming with you guys.”  Seijuro wondered if the part of him that wanted to reach out and shake the other teen out of his attitude would ever get a break.  He wanted to snake his arms out and drag Rin back to the pool.  Instead he clapped his hands and after Gou introduced her team to him they started.  Rin watched most of the practice from the balcony, he noted, paying the most attention when Nanase swam.  But he also payed plenty of attention when Tachibana swam.  A fact that settled in the back of his mind with a healthy dose of deja vu.

Other than Rin’s little dramatic entrance and exit the only thing of note that happened during practice was the Ryugazaki kid practically drowning.  Why would a guy who can’t swim be on the swim team anyway?  Seijuro pushed the thought out of his head.  It wasn’t his problem.  Right now his problem was the pile of homework sitting on his desk that he had to finish before he could sleep.


	4. Overlap

The desert heat was comforting.  There were those who complained about it but he always found it oddly soothing.  He much prefered the heat of the day to the coldness of the night.  The city was busy today, he noted, and he walked a step closer to the prince.

“You’re being suffocating today, Seijuro.”  The prince flashed him a grin that softened his words and turned down the next alleyway.  They were on the way to visit Rin’s new favorite merchant.

“We’re being followed, my prince.”  Rin nodded and took the next turn into a dead end.  He calmly leaned against the wall as Seijuro stopped a step away and turned back towards the alley.  A wicked smile graced the lips of the men who appeared.  The scuffle, for it would be insulting to call it a fight, ended quickly and both men were knocked out and relieved of their weapons in a matter of minutes.  It wasn’t until they reached the main road that either of them noticed the blood on Seijuro’s pants.  One of the men had gotten in a lucky slice and caught Seijuro’s leg apparently.

They continued on to their destination.  Rin was in a much bigger hurry than Seijuro was.  The wound didn’t even hurt all that much but Rin was practically dragging his guard captain down the narrow alleys that led them to the small shop.  Rin shoved open the door and called out for the merchant.

“Makoto!  We need you out here!”  The tall brunette stepped out from the back room and hurried over.  “Seijuro got hurt.  Can you help him out?”

“Anything for you two.”  Makoto’s gentle smile simultaneously soothed Seijuro’s nerves and irritated him.  The brunette gestured towards the back room and they went.  Seeing the relieved look that slipped onto Rin’s face for the briefest of moments when Seijuro slipped off his pants to reveal a shallow cut that really truly amounted to nothing filled Seijuro’s heart with hope.

 

When he opened his eyes to see the underside of the bunk bed he slept in his heart sank.  He really did miss the heat of his original life.  Especially the heat of his prince’s gaze on him.

 

What had started out as a simple trip to the store had turned into a small headache.  First it was going to be a day long swim team outing.  Then slowly everyone else had started heading home or out to some other stores, which made his job of keeping everyone in line and safe harder, and he found himself leaning against the fence in the parking lot with Nitori.  Who was waiting for his roommate.  

Seijuro tried to tell himself that he was only still here to make sure that his remaining swim team members acted accordingly.  But he couldn’t hide the surge of protectiveness that washed over him when he spotted Rin walking towards them and he straightened ever so slightly.

Rin had an air of confidence about him today.  Maybe things were getting back on track.  It would be nice to get a soothing memory in his dreams.  All he had been remembering lately had been the petty arguments or scuffles between him and his prince and the increasing presence of a certain merchant in their daily routines.

“Why are you even here anyway?”  Rin huffed and stalked away, pulling Nitori along with him.  

Funny he should ask since Seijuro had been asking himself the same question all morning.  

As he watched the two younger teens enter the store he found himself wondering how many times he had seen that proud back walking in front of him.  Seijuro flipped open his phone to check the time and decided he’d head back home before too long.  Even if it was Rin and Nitori being left here alone, there hopefully wasn’t too much trouble they could get into in just a couple hours.

After sending some texts to the last few members he remembered seeing out today reminding them of curfew and to behave he pushed away from the fence and wandered towards the store.  He’d check in on anyone inside one final time and head back himself.  There was still a miniature mountain of homework and paperwork for the team to take care of before the weekend was over.

His phone vibrated as one of the first years replied to him and he nearly missed the redhead at the drink machine as he checked his phone.

“Gou-kun!”  Her eyes widened in surprise before she gave him an almost disgusted look.

“I told you not to call me that.”  It was better than groveling at her feet and referring to her as ‘your highness’ he was sure.  Then again, noting the proud way she carried herself even though she was obviously exhausted, she might appreciate being noticed as royalty.

“Sorry.”  He bowed his head slightly, whole body was poised for complete submission for the briefest of moments.  Gou had always been able to tame him with the smallest gesture, the slightest intonation.  There had been jokes at one point about how he may have been the prince’s guard but he was the princess’s pet.  As much as he tried to deny the claim he just couldn’t help the joy and eagerness that filled him when she would suddenly appear.  “So what’re you doing here?”  

“The boys needed new suits so we had a club day.”  Gou shrugged and gave a soft sigh.  “I didn’t realize they all took their suits so seriously.  I mean I know Haruka-senpai does.  But they’ve all been in there trying on suits for forever now.  How about you?”

“A proper fitting swimsuit is important.  And having the proper type for your stroke is vital as well.”  She rolled her eyes at him and he grinned.  It was moments like these where he could definitely see the similarities in the two of them.  Maybe that was why it had been so easy for him to follow her as queen after Rin had died.  They were enough alike that he still saw traces of his prince every day.  “I’m here for about the same reason.  We needed to do a supply run so a bunch of the swim team came out.  I’m about the only one left here now though.”

“So.”  He glanced down and was snared in her intense gaze.  “How is my brother?  Honestly.”

“Well he really is a great swimmer.  He’s hard working, if a bit arrogant, and his times are pretty impressive.”

“I meant more how is Rin my brother doing, not Rin the swimmer.”

“Oh.  Well.  It’s hard to say for sure.  Nitori would probably be the best to ask.  He’s Rin’s roommate after all.  Rin doesn’t have much use for the captain unless he needs something.”  Seijuro was sure his cheeky grin looked a little sad as he realized just how true his words were.  Luckily Gou was studying the drink in her hand.

“I see.  I just wondered since even though I’m his sister he doesn’t respond to my messages or anything.  I think Makoto-senpai tried sending him something the other day too.”

“Yeah.  He’s got a lot on his plate right now it seems.”  Their silence was companionable enough as they finished their drinks and then Gou excused herself and went back inside, leaving him to his thoughts.  A bubble of almost hysterical laughter caught in his throat as he wondered how long it would be before he could look at or talk to Rin or Gou or even that damn brunette without his past memories overriding the present.  

Probably a lot longer than he would like. A flick of his wrist and his now empty can found its way into the trash.  He better check if anyone was inside and then head back for real this time.

Gou caught him just as he was about to head back to the station a few minutes later.

“Um.  I need to find Haruka-senpai.  Would you help me look for him?  I think he’s outside somewhere.”  Seijuro couldn’t say no to a princess in distress and they quickly headed out into the parking lot.

The sound of angry voices drew them both along the side of the building and they crept to the edge, Seijuro placing Gou just behind him in case of any danger.  The shadows masked their presence as they watched in shock as Rin shoved Haruka into the fence.  Unable to make out the words they watched as Rin and Haruka spoke back and forth for a moment before Haruka reached up and wrapped his fingers around Rin’s wrist, pulling his hand away from the fence.  Haruka turned away and left Rin staring angrily after him.

Seijuro and Gou’s eyes met as they both contemplated what they just witnessed.  At least now they knew part of what seemed to be on Rin’s mind of late.

“I’ll let you know if anything comes up, okay?”  Seijuro whispered.  Gou nodded and slipped back around the building, probably to head off Haruka before he left.  Rin rubbed his cheek irritatedly and spun around, heading for the shadows where Seijuro was waiting.

 

Moonlight filled the courtyard as Rin stomped towards the shadowy hallway his captain was waiting in.  His red eyes took in the guard’s state with one quick glance.

“Let me guess you’re disappointed in me too.”  It wasn’t a question and Seijuro didn’t answer.  He simply waited.  “Well get in line.  First my parents and the entire city.  Now him.  And you.”  He let out a shaky breath before passing the other man.  “Maybe I’m not meant to be more than a screw up.”  They walked towards Rin’s chambers, Seijuro nodding politely at his fellow guards.

“Technically you’re meant to be a ruler.  A desert king.  But you have chosen a different path so far.”  He didn’t have to see the way Rin’s shoulders stiffened to know he was stepping onto treacherous ground with his observations.  But one never got anywhere with the prince by mincing words and tiptoeing around.  “You’ve made a lot of choices that have been seen as questionable.”

His choices didn’t even have to be mentioned.  Rin knew what his guard was talking about.  Every time he was told to do something he opted for a different solution.  He had ditched his coming of age ceremony to spend time among the children at the temple.  He had dismissed the subject of marriage by claiming to want to study more.  He then avoided studying by sneaking out of the palace.  And now…

“Wanting to talk to him more is a questionable choice?  Is that what they think?”  The noncommittal noise from his guard seemed to irritate him even more and he spun and backed the taller man against the wall.  “And what do you think?”  They studied each other in the moonlit corridor, both seeming to want to see something in the other they couldn’t quite find.

“You’re my prince.”  Rin’s frustrated huff of breath flitted past his cheek before the prince turned and continued to his room.

Seijuro ran a hand down his face and groaned.  How was he supposed to deal with  this ?

“What the hell are you doing here?”  His eyes snapped open and he was looking down into Rin’s angry gaze.  Sunlight filtered through the trees surrounding the store and a cool breeze ruffled at their clothes.

Apparently he couldn’t even catch a break when he was awake anymore.


	5. Dreamers

Watching the advisors spread throughout the room whisper amongst themselves filled him with frustration.  It was bad enough to know that they doubted his competency to take his place as ruler.  Hell even he doubted that most days.  But to doubt the loyalty of his guard captain?  To doubt the motives of the merchant he had befriended?  He was used to the scrutiny and whispers.  But it wasn’t fair to subject the two people who were, without a doubt, the closest to him to that kind of mistrust and gossip.

Rin idly adjusted the bangles at his wrist and waited.  Before long they were ushered in and his head advisor stood and cleared his throat.  “We asked the two of you here-”

“Hmph, asked, right.”  His guard captain muttered.

“We asked the two of you here to discuss certain actions and decisions you have made recently in regards to Prince Rin.”  The captain’s bright eyes caught his and he swallowed.  His guard captain’s eyes were hard and unreadable and found himself wanting to apologize and it must have shown in his gaze because the other man looked away, gaze harsh as he scanned the room.  So he turned his gaze to the merchant beside the captain.  He met the merchant’s confused green eyes with an apologetic glance.  

“Makoto,” he murmured and sat up in bed.

His eyes darted to the clock and then the window.  It was storming and he knew that they were supposed to be staying on the beach.  He shouldn’t be worried about his former friend but part of him deep down  knew that there was no way Makoto would have told the others about his water thing.  Especially if telling them meant they would worry about him.  So, naturally, Rin was a little worried.

But Makoto would be even more upset if Rin hurried down to the beach in an attempt to rescue him from his fears or something equally cheesy.

So he dropped back onto his bed with a sigh and wondered at his dream.  It was surprisingly vivid.  He had practically been able to feel the desert heat - how he knew it was a desert when they were inside a windowless room the whole time was something he just attributed to dream knowledge - and he could have sworn he could smell the rich spices coming from Makoto - they would be caused by some new item he had traded with someone or another he was sure.  But he was sure the dream was just because of running into his sister today and her mentioning the whole beach thing.  Worrying slightly about Makoto and then the energy of the upcoming prefectural race against Haru and dealing with the weird looks he had been getting from Captain Mikoshiba lately.  All of that must have been floating around in his subconscious or something.  

He had never been very good at the whole psychology of dreams thing.  So he picked the simplest reasoning and just fell back asleep.

 

* * *

  
  


"Does he have any idea how hard he makes my job?"  Seijuro shifted and propped his hip on the edge of the long open window of Makoto’s shop.  Heavy clouds hung low in the desert air and the prince was using the impending storm as an excuse to avoid court duties: there would be time enough for paperwork and meetings when they were in the middle of the storm after all.  So here they were in the market, the prince happily surrounded by his people as he wandered from shop to shop and glanced through the wares.

"I’m sure it’s not on purpose.  People are just drawn to him," Makoto said before smiling.  "I know I was."

"That doesn’t help me much."  Makoto chuckled and Seijuro glanced at the man leaning out the window beside him.  Something about him had caught his prince’s attention and drawn him in.  The brunet was easy to be around and even the guard captain felt at ease around him.  But that didn’t change the fact that the prince was currently surrounded by way too many people.  He stepped forward to break through the crowd and place himself at his prince’s side, where he should be, when Makoto placed a hand on his elbow.

"He’s okay.  You’re always watching him.  And he knows it.  Which is why he can be as relaxed as he is.  Your dynamic is what attracted me to the two of you, you know."

 

The prefectural tournament had gone off, more or less, without a hitch.  Even with his unsettling past life dreams invading his sleep every night.  Everyone had done well and he was proud of his team.  Rin had won his race and Seijuro had managed to not only win but set a new tournament record.  They were sitting in a hallway just off of the bleachers basking in the high of their wins when Iwatobi had shown up.

He hadn’t heard most of the conversation because the moment Makoto looked at him he had felt something stir deep in his chest.  For a moment it wasn’t Makoto, Captain of Iwatobi’s team, looking at him.  It was Makoto the merchant.

“Even if he’s here to protect you I am still going to tell you this.”  Seijuro’s eyes snapped into focus and he could only stand as watch as Makoto laid out his little set of facts to Rin.  After a moment Rin scoffed at Makoto and pushed past the group.

 

Something about the way Makoto had looked at him had left him unsettled but he hadn’t been able to put his finger on it.  But it definitely felt more familiar than the other times he had met the green gaze.  Naturally just when he had finally felt like he was making progress towards Rin becoming more comfortable around him something had shaken everything up.

 

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.  Tomorrow they were going to a festival and it was his job to make sure everyone got there and back in one piece and that there were no issues.


	6. Festival Interlude

He had lost track of half of his team almost the moment they stepped out of the station.  Now Seijuro scanned the stalls, looking for a refreshment stand that wouldn’t make him wind up right next to a certain brunet.  Apparently luck was against him, he decided, as one of his teammates waved him over with a happy shout.

“Captain Mikoshiba.”

“Captain Tachibana.”  They stared at each other for a moment before laughing.

“You were pretty impressive at the relay.”

“I was pretty awesome, wasn’t I?”

“Modest too I see.”  The teasing tone surprised him and he looked over at the other teen who looked back at him in surprise.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not that impolite usually.  It just, well,” he dropped off as they neared the front of the line and finished his thought after they had both made their purchases.  “It feels like I’ve known you a long time is all.  I guess you just have one of those personalities that draw people in and make them comfortable, you know?”

“I think that’s more you than me,” he answered.

“Sorry if I seemed rude after the race.  But Rin is, well.”

“A handful.”  The soft chuckle was so similar to the one he had heard countless times in his dreams that he continued without really thinking.  “Sometimes I feel more like his guard than his captain.”  Makoto shot him a peculiar look.  “Always trying to keep him out of trouble.  Covering for him when he screws up and his friends sneak into our pool.  That sort of thing.”

He’s almost certain the soft laugh that Makoto let out that time sounds a little strained.  Like he’s realized something uncomfortable and he watches from the corner of his eye as the brunet shifts and rubs at his elbow.  It was a subtle gesture he had seen plenty back in the desert.  It meant he was unsure of how to approach whatever he wanted to say.

“Captain Mikoshiba!  It’s time to meet up for the shrine.”  One of the swim team members called out as he jogged by.

“Ah so it is.  I’ll talk to you later, Tachibana.”

When Rin came running up to them that night as they were getting ready to head back and bent over, catching his breath, he knew something had happened.  The fire in Rin’s eyes made his heart leap.  There was his prince.  There was the man he had fallen so deeply in love with.

“Captain, we need to talk.”  

Seijuro felt his stomach drop. Things were changing and it was happening fast.


	7. Merchant Memories

Makoto had had a niggling feeling in the back of his mind ever since the incident on the beach, if you could refer to half their swim team almost drowning as a mere incident.  It had only become more persistent after the prefectural tournament and confronting Rin and then running into Captain Mikoshiba at the festival.  There were always things on his mind, some more pressing than others, but this felt different.  Kind of like when you had the name of something on the tip of your tongue but can’t quite figure out what it is.  Or when you can almost remember the answer to a question.

He knew part of it was that Rei was acting strange.  They all kind of were but he just attributed it mostly to nerves and all the extra practices.  He also attributed the dreams to his state of exhaustion.  His overworked brain and body trying to process everything happening.  But the fact that the dreams started after the incident on the beach, along with that feeling like he was forgetting something important, didn’t escape his notice.

Most of the dreams were just boring dreams about living in the desert.  Conversing with people.  Selling them random spices and bolts of cloth and trinkets.  They had been going on nearly every night but since he woke up just as refreshed as usual he hadn’t been too concerned about them.  It was just… odd.

He drifted off to sleep with thoughts of tomorrow’s swim practice and the news that Rin was swimming against them in the upcoming relay lingering in his mind.

 

It was a day like countless before, and just as many to come, when he realized it.  Nothing major changed.  The sun continued to bake the city.  The people continued their bustling errands.  He traded a bundle of silks for a bag of gems and all of a sudden the thought was just there.  In the front of his mind.

I love them.

Placing the gems in his lock box he stared down at his hands.  I love them.  It was a strange thought.  Not because he suddenly realized he loved two people, two men, equally.  But because of how calm it made him feel.  He wasn’t sure if it was because he knew there was no way they’d even notice him, a simple merchant in a city of hundreds of merchants, so it was safe to dream or because of how deeply he felt the emotion, like a bucket being lifted up from the deepest wells of the city, cool and comforting.  But if nothing else he knew that he loved both of them and that made him feel at peace.

He loved the way the guard watched the prince with such openness.  Such love.  He was sure that everyone had to know the guard captain was in love with the prince.  But he never heard any gossip or rumors about it so maybe he was the only one to notice after all.  But still.  To be so open and bold with your gaze must be refreshing, he thought as he scanned the crowded street on his way home.  Surely it was nothing he could ever dream of doing.  

But it wasn’t like he could put any fault on the captain since he was always watching the prince as well.  He loved the way the prince moved through the crowds with such confidence and ease.  The way he stopped to listen to the old lady who ran the inn, assuring her that he would keep whatever concerns she was telling him in mind.

He loved the way the prince and his captain would share a glance, some kind of secret passing between them without words, and then smile.  He loved the way the guard captain would occasionally step alongside the prince to subtly discourage overeager glances from unsavory people.  He loved the way the prince was content to put his safety into the hands of his captain.

He really was in love with them.  He shook his head, shuffling his thoughts a little, and climbed the outer stairs to his rooms.  The short walk home from his shop usually cleared his head a little better.  Maybe a cool bath would help him more.

It was a day like countless before.  Until he opened his eyes and saw that there was no one else left in the pool but himself.  

Correction.  There were two other people but he couldn’t quite make them out from where they were standing on the other side in the shadows of the trees.  Nothing major had changed.  Until the first figure stepped out of the shadow and slipped into the pool and the second followed after only a moment.

I love them.

The thought was still floating in the front of his mind as the prince swam up to him with the guard captain just behind.

He could still see the love for the prince in the captain’s eyes - did the prince himself even realize how in love with him the captain was?  He could see the confidence the prince possessed in his easy movement - did the captain know how much of the prince’s presence was because of his faith in him?  

He dropped his gaze to his hands and was surprised to see them as steady as ever.  Even this close to them the knowledge that he loved them was a soothing balm on his troubled soul.

“Can I help you, Prince Rin?”

“You can start by telling me your name.”

“Makoto.”

 

He sat up with a gasp as his alarm rang.  What a weirdly specific dream.  He mulled over it as he got himself and the twins ready for the day.  

It had been so clear and specific and had felt so real.  So right.  Even now it felt more like a memory than a dream.

“Sometimes I feel more like his guard than his captain.”  He froze, toothbrush hanging perilously from his mouth as he realized that both Rin and Mikoshiba had been present in the dream and suddenly Mikoshiba’s words made an almost frightening kind of sense.  Makoto shook his head to clear his thoughts a little, trying his best to ignore how similar the action was to his dream, and hurried out the door.  If he was late for school because of a silly dream Nagisa would never let him hear the end of it.

Because it was just a dream.  Right?


	8. Bittersweet Fates

He had been chasing the idea around and around for what felt like months even though it had only been a few weeks.  Rin was making an effort, sure, but he was still missing the point of the relay.  It wasn’t just about your efforts alone.  He had been snappy with everyone, including his captain which Seijuro had thought they had more or less worked through by now.  He didn’t want to pull Rin from the relay team.  His times weren’t horrible but he wasn’t getting any better at all either and he definitely wasn’t making any progress with the relay team in general.  There was a weight pulling him under and Seijuro felt helpless because he didn’t have the slightest clue how to free him from it.

He had been looking for Rin for a few hours.  His decision had been made, the appropriate forms filled out and turned in to the officials.  It wasn’t something he was happy with but, as the captain of the team he had more people than just Rin to watch out for.  Especially since Rin has been making it abundantly clear that he didn’t want Seijuro taking care of him.

It wasn’t easy to change the way he had been doing things for, literally, several lifetimes.  He had always put Rin’s best interest first, even before his own, but this time he was so tired.  It seemed like everything had caught up to him and was slowly digging claws into his sides and if he wasn’t careful whatever was dragging Rin down would capture him too.

A flash of red caught his eyes and he pushed away from the wall with a frown.

When had he started being afraid of giving up his life in exchange for his prince’s?

\--

“You’re focused on something else.  You’re not at your best condition right now.”  It hurt.  Oh gods did it hurt.  That look on Rin’s face flashing from incomprehension to shock to betrayal and pure unfiltered hatred.  Had he ever seen that look on his prince’s face?  He didn’t even have to think about the answer because it was a resounding no.  Never.  He would have never done anything to hurt his prince this way.  

But… his stomach sank as the thought finally rose to the surface of his mind.  This wasn’t his prince anymore was it?  Rin had changed.  Everything had changed.  

The reason why Rin opposed him so much.  The reason why he shied away from his prince instead of guiding him like always.  The reason why Rin wasn’t the only person he was looking out for anymore.  The reason he was hurting him.

This whole life was tilted beyond any sense of normalcy.  Not that most people would be able to think of having multiple lives that you clearly remembered and relived nightly in your dreams as normal.  He took a deep breath and forced the last words out, calm even as his mind was crumbling in on itself.

"I'm sending our best members out there. That's what a team should do.”  His voice softened and his pause was almost imperceptible.  He had to remind himself that this was for the best.  He couldn’t keep thinking about just Rin.  If anything the last couple months had proven that he no longer needed to be Rin’s protector.  “You can focus on the 100m free."  Bracing himself for the outburst he knew was coming he was shocked when, instead, Rin’s eyes narrowed and he just turned around and walked away.  Anything would have been better than the look of disappointment and betrayal on his face.  Anger he could deal with.  Frustration.  Yelling.  Fighting.  

Anything other than the silent acknowledgement that someone you thought you could trust had just stabbed you in the back.  

Seijuro felt like there was a dagger planted in his own chest as he stumbled back into his room and fell onto the bed.  He felt like his heart was about to rip in two.

That night Captain Mikoshiba curled into himself and for the first time ever wished that he would never have been reborn.

 

It was another sweltering day in the palace and the captain found himself once again frantically searching for his wayward prince.  They had been warily circling each other for days now, the heat and the enormity of their actions starting to drag them down more and more each day, and this morning had been the last straw.

Rin had once again skipped out on his morning meetings to scurry out and play hooky with that damned merchant.  Not that Seijuro could really blame Rin for wanting a break.  The prince had been meeting with traders and townsfolk alike for the past week straight: listening to petty disputes, cries of overtaxing, and just general discontent.  It was enough to try even the most patient of souls - and Rin was not known for patience.  But this was his responsibility no matter how much he disliked it and running away from it was not going to make things better for either of them.

He might not have needed to scold his prince quite so severely, or threaten to keep him under full surveillance all hours of the day, but finding him curled up in the merchant’s shop like a stray cat had just set something off inside of Seijuro.

So he had lashed out and now his prince was avoiding him.  He hadn’t found him in his rooms, the garden, or even the pools.  He took a deep breath and opened the door to the library, this was the last place he could think of that his prince would hide.  It was cool and rarely used.  The perfect place to hide out from everyone.

Watching the steady rise and fall of his prince’s chest as he dozed in one of the piles of cushions scattered throughout the room the captain wondered if he would be doing this forever.  It would be the most bittersweet kind of fate, he decided as he took a seat near the door.

Insistent pounding startled him awake and he groaned at the sight of the hotel ceiling.  

A most bittersweet fate indeed.


	9. What Couldn't I Give You

Watching Rin struggling to pull himself out of the pool tore at Seijuro and it took every ounce of his willpower not to rush out of the stands and down to Rin’s side.  He still had other swimmers to corral and support.  Other events to keep track of.  Other people to take care of.  His stomach felt like it was on fire as he watched Nitori hurry out of the stands.  Nitori was a good person, Seijuro could leave Rin in his hands.

Rin wouldn’t want him there anyway.

When Nitori came back with mumbled apologies for not being able to talk Rin down he was shaken up and Seijuro tossed his arm around his shoulders in a friendly hug.

He was prepared to hunt Rin down after the day’s events and talk to him.  He was prepared to get yelled at by Rin, maybe even punched by him.  He was prepared to do everything in his power to get Rin to calm down and understand his decision.

He was not prepared to look down and see Rin on the block preparing to dive in for the butterfly portion of Iwatobi’s relay.

It was a move so ridiculous and bold and so very much his prince that he stopped breathing for a moment.  The water glittered as Rin dove in and Seijuro felt the suffocating desert heat close in on him.  He watched with his heart in his throat as Rin’s red striped legskins rippled through the water and for a moment he could see nothing but the blood spreading from his prince’s side, staining his already dark robes almost black, and then Nitori was tugging at his arm and it was over.

Rin was smiling, laughing, happy with the Iwatobi team and Seijuro could only look on with what felt like a hundred stones in his gut, slowly churning and crushing him from the inside.

But he couldn't hate him.  No matter how much trouble Rin caused him.  He just couldn't bring himself to feel anything even akin to dislike for him.  Especially now that he's seen that grin on his face, seen his eyes light up, seen his prince again.  Part of him had already started running through the paperwork and apologies he would need to partake in.  But most of him was just watching with a numb feeling.

It was, oddly enough, a little like watching Rin die all over again, slipping through his grasp like grains of sand.  I guess I'll love you another time.  His own whispered words echoed in his mind, almost mocking him, and he's forced to bite his cheek to hold in a sigh.

"What couldn't I give you?"  Muttered words are lost in the crowd's shouting and cheers.  Part of him had always known that he wasn't what his prince truly needed.  He couldn't rule beside him.  Couldn't truly help him bear the weight of sitting on the throne.  But he could support him in his own way.  Listen to his troubles, hear his complaints.  He had always felt, deep in his soul, that it would be enough.  That he would be able to meet his prince in another life and finally become enough to support him properly.

There was a reason they had been thrown together life after life after life.  He knew that.  He just wasn't sure his heart was up to the task of watching Rin fade away from him again and again anymore.  For the first time he felt himself wavering, felt his conviction slipping.  There had to be something he was missing.

* * *

 

“I have a better way for you to own up to your actions.  Swim the way you just did.  For our team."

The thing that hurt the most wasn’t smiling at Rin and encouraging him.  Because he truly meant it.  He wanted Rin to swim for Samezuka that way.  To be able to work with the rest of the team and secure victories for them.  

To be truthful he wanted to be able to scold Rin.  To tell him off and lock him up safe and sound.  But that’s not what Rin needed.  Rin needed these friends.  He needed Makoto and the others.

He needed the merchant who showed him the world.  Not the guard who had protected him from it.

That’s what hurt the most.  That’s what made his smile widen to the point it stung.  Made his eyes flare until they almost burned.

The fact that his prince didn’t need him anymore.

So he faced the lectures.  Faced the glares from the rest of the team.  Faced Rin.  Gave them all the smiles and apologies and platitudes they needed.  Smiled like he wasn’t already dying inside and got back on the bus.  He would be graduating this year.  It wouldn’t be long before his studies would take the place of the swim team and he’d hand over his title to someone new.

But now that Rin didn’t need him what was he supposed to do?

 

He was surprised when he found his answer the next morning.  In the form of a text from, of all people, Gou.

 

Seijuro hadn’t planned on turning his attention, and affections, to Gou.  But it made sense.  He had always had a spot for her in his heart as well, just not nearly as big as the one her brother had.  So now that he was determined to give up on Rin, to take back some of his heart from the sharp toothed redhead, it gave Gou room to grow.

So when their third meeting in a week to discuss swim team strategies and the coming year turned into a stop at the ice cream shop on the way back to the station and then a detour to the local mall for a movie he didn’t pause to worry about it.  He just let it happen.  He was tired of trying to fight against fate and watch over Rin.  It was time to accept it: Rin wasn’t his anymore.


	10. Dream A Little Dream

Rin’s second dream happened the night he found out about Gou dating his captain.  He hadn’t had one since that night of the storm when Makoto had nearly drowned.  He had forgotten about it, actually, with all the excitement and drama leading up to the relay race.  

He was sitting on a throne in a long empty room and the heat was almost overbearing.  Desert heat always was.  Muffled voices reached him and he slumped further in the throne, hoping if he stayed still enough maybe they wouldn’t notice him.  Gou would have called him childish.  He probably would agree.  Of course it was childish to be hiding from your sister and the captain of your guard when they simply wanted to get you to your next round of meetings on time.

But Rin didn’t want to go to meetings or see the people or lead the kingdom.  He wanted his freedom.  His chance to explore the world.  Find love.  Do whatever it was that his childish heart demanded.  Spend time in the temples and markets and actually meet the people they wanted him to be leading.

He heard his sister’s laugh echoing through the room and shot up when Seijuro and Gou walked into the throne room.  “Rin!” Gou called out.  He looked past her and met Seijuro’s eyes with a frown.  “We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“Is there a reason you’re walking about with  my guard captain?  Don’t you have guards of your own?”

“Is that any way to talk your sister, my prince?”

Rin made a disgusted sound and pushed himself off the throne.  “Whatever.  Let’s go.  Captain.”

 

Rin rolled over and shut off his alarm before Ai woke up too.  He wondered briefly if Mikoshiba had made it home early enough last night from his date with Gou.  He damn well better have.  That was his little sister the captain was apparently going out on dates with.  He better be showing her the respect she deserved.

Rin opened the door of his room and spotted Mikoshiba doing the same.  “Oi, Captain.”  Mikokshiba turned and looked over his shoulder at Rin.  “You better be treating her like a princess.”

“She’s not a princess, Matsuoka.” Rin bristled at the tone and took a step forward.  “She’s a queen.”  Rin frowned as Mikoshiba’s door shut.  For a moment he had been sure the captain had been about to say “my” queen.

 

Seijuro had expected, or hoped anyway, that the dreams would get better after finally accepting that Rin was different, after deciding that he wasn’t going to pine away for his prince and protect him from the shadows anymore.  They didn’t get any worse.  But they sure as hell didn’t get any better either.  

Dreams of desert sun and an ever smiling merchant and countless days of tracking a wayward prince and meetings and meals and moonlight walks and swims haunted his dreams at night.  Visions of jewels and expensive robes, scents of exotic spices on the breeze, sounds of bustling marketplaces overlaid his days.  More than once he found himself reaching out to tuck a strand of Gou’s hair behind her ear only to idly wonder why her family’s jewels weren’t on her neck.  He could barely stand next to Rin without being overwhelmed by the scent of the spices from a long gone marketplace.

Okay maybe it was getting a little worse.

Which is why he was trying to put a little space between Rin and himself.  He had already talked to the coach and was making plans for Rin to be the next captain; giving Rin swim club tasks, letting him prove himself little by little to the team, leaving Rin in charge for the end of practice while Seijuro went to get some extra studying in.  

Now he had his whole life ahead of him.  Graduation and college and who knew what else was waiting for him.  He just needed some space, some time away from Rin so he could just get on with everything.

 

Rin was pissed.  Not like ready to kill someone pissed but he was getting there.  Ever since the tournament and since Mikoshiba started dating his sister the captain had been distant.  Nothing extremely obvious to other people but Rin could see it, could sense it.  The captain would leave him orders to finish practice and bail early.  He’d make sure they didn’t really have conversations alone, and if they did he was quick to end them.  His tone had changed.  He seemed less bossy, less concerned about Rin, and that pissed him off for some reason.  Mikoshiba had been a constant presence basically Rin’s entire time at Samezuka and now he was gone.

Plus the damn dreams had come back and Seijuro - because his dream mind always thought of the older teen as “Seijuro” and rarely “Mikoshiba” - was always there.  Always by his side.  An ever present warmth an arm’s length away, a steady hand guiding him.

Dreams of waking up in lavish rooms with Seijuro calmly standing guard over him.  Dreams of swims in moonlit pools and days spent in sweltering desert heat.  Dreams of being drug to meetings and introduced to boring councils.

They were dreams but they felt so damn real that Rin would wake up, confused at the sight of the bunk above him, and swear he could still feel the jewels on his skin, could still taste the water on his lips.  They made the fact that Mikoshiba was pulling away from him in reality even more obvious.  He had no idea what was going on but something told him Mikoshiba would know.

But he was always busy when Rin tried to talk to him.  Usually either heading out to visit Gou or locked away studying in his room.

Still, despite his stupid dreams and the stupid captain’s constant presence in them Rin was doing well.  He finally felt like he could keep moving forward.  He was surprised when Mikoshiba named him the new captain, especially given his distance since the tournament, and he really wasn’t sure he was ready for it or that it was even a good idea.

“Are you sure?”

“For the last time you’ll be fine.  You’re the one who told me you’d make up for it.  So take care of my team and lead them the way I know you can.  I have confidence in you.”

Seijuro leaned back against the wall and looked up at Rin with a smile.  This was it.  This was the end and soon he’d be able to cut all ties with the Matsuokas.  Maybe even for good.


End file.
